With the Canada Winter Games action now over, three Yukon hockey teams are heading to British Columbia for the provincial championships this weekend.

The midget, bantam and pee wee rep Mustangs will face off against AA opponents in North Okanagan, Elk Valley and Nelson, B.C. respectively. Players and coaching staff leave Whitehorse today and Saturday, with competition scheduled to start Sunday.

Because the Canada Games took up both Takhini Arena and the rinks at the Canada Games Centre, there had been limited ice time for the rep teams, although most of the midgets competed at the Games.

The ice time has increased significantly this week, with all three teams getting in a few practices. Stan McCowan Arena has been used as a practice facility for the past month, and that's where the bantams and pee wees were Thursday evening.

Of more concern for bantam coach Dan Johnson is the fact his squad hasn't played an actual game since the middle of February.

'Our big problem always seems to be, it takes us a couple of games to adjust and find our own game,' said Johnson.

Forward Dalton Edzerza and defenceman Daniel LeGoffe pointed to the hardworking style of their team and said they're confident they can overcome the limited game action.

'We've been working on our mental awareness and getting our head in the game all year,' said LeGoffe. 'We've got to do the basic things first, do the small things and get them right and we'll be fine.'

The bantam Mustangs have been working a lot on their special teams since a tournament in Prince George this past December, where they missed out on the semifinals because of penalty minutes in a tiebreaker.

'This time, we're going to stay smart,' stated Edzerza.

When it comes to their own power play, LeGoffe said the team has been working on the umbrella system. Johnson said they switched to that system earlier on in the year because it seems to mix up the teams on the penalty kill.

Edzerza is hoping speed and offensive talent will be the difference for the Mustangs.

'Our team isn't the biggest team, but we have some guys, like Trevor Hanna, who are great with the puck. He has amazing hand-eye coordination. And David Stephens, he's a play maker on the ice. He makes everyone else look good.'

The defence, said LeGoffe, has also been holding their own.

'When we mess up, we come off the ice, think about what we did, and then go back out the next shift and try to fix it.'

As for goaltending, Johnson said both Mel Goodman and Brad Gustafson have been strong all year, although Gustafson has been hit with a couple of injuries.

'When we went to provincials last year, our other goalie wasn't doing so good, so we put Mel in and he just stood on his head,' said Edzerza.

'I'm pretty confident too with Brad this year,' added LeGoffe. 'He's been down and out injured, but he's always worked hard and battled back strong.'

Johnson said in his opinion, both netminders have been in the top five in every tournament they've been to. If one of them gets hot, other teams will be in trouble.

'We definitely possess the Kipprusoff effect,' he stated, referring to the Calgary Flames' all-star keeper.

The coach added it will be key for the goalies to keep their team in it for the first 10 minutes of each game, because the players are likely going to have some jitters, particularly in their opener at provincials.

'We need a win in the first two games, that's going to be key,' said Johnson. 'If you go 0-2, it's really tough to fight back. We learned that last year.'

Last year, the bantam Mustangs beat one of the teams that ended up in the final and tied the other one, but still found themselves on the outside of the final four, because of a slow start. This time, Edzerza said, that won't happen.

'Our goal is to make the final four. The other teams always think they can just push us around, but this year, we're going to make them work to have to beat us. Our motto is, no matter what, hard work.'

They'll be up against many of the same teams they've been facing in other tournaments all season, such as Dawson Creek, Terrace and Trail. Johnson said Trail is always strong, adding the game they're most looking forward to is against Quesnel.

'That's a frustration point for us. We thought we had them beat twice before and let it slip away. They're in our pool (at provincials), so that's a good thing.'

'We're going to get them back,' said a determined LeGoffe.

Whitehorse will also face Quesnel in pee wee and midget action at provincials. Pee wee forwards Gibson Pearson and Brett Roulston feel their team is prepared to take on their B.C. rivals. Pearson said the tournament is probably the highest level of competition that they'll play in at their age.

Still, the goal for both young athletes is clear.

'To win. To bring home the gold medal,' stated Pearson. 'We just need to finish our chances and put the puck in the net whenever possible.'

The Mustangs have four really good shooters and a couple of good passers, said Pearson, so he considers their power play a strong point.

Roulston said the team has become a lot stronger over the past couple of months, thanks to hard work.

'We just have to work on getting the puck out of our end quicker.'

That's also been an issue for the midget Mustangs, who will welcome defencemen Kaleb Dawe and Nick Mauro, as well as forward Taylor Pasloski, back into the fold. All three were too old to compete at the Canada Games.

'We really want to emphasize the importance of special teams,' said coach Mike Young. 'It's crucial. It's almost the most important factor in hockey at this level.'

While defenceman Alex McDougall did an admirable job on the point during the Games, there's no doubt Dawe was a huge loss on the power play, particularly when it came to getting the puck set up.

'Kaleb is really a factor on our power play breakout, which many would agree was a problem at Canada Games,' admitted Young. 'He's so calm back there, he'll help out tons now.'

Coming off a big shootout win over the rival Northwest Territories at the Games, Young said the confidence on the team is high heading to the Okanagan, although some of the players are run down with the 'community flu' which has been ravaging Whitehorse.

'That's our major concern right now, that everyone is recovered and healthy in time for the first game Sunday.'

Similar to the bantams, the goal for the midget rep squad is to make the final four. They went into last year's provincials, which were hosted on home soil, as a championship contender but ended up finishing the round-robin winless.

Perhaps they were looking a bit too far ahead?

'We don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves,' said Young. 'Our original goal, from the very beginning, has been to make the top four and go from there ... claw our way up into the semifinals.

'Joe (Martin, the other coach for the midget Mustangs) was emphasizing to the players yesterday, if you take one stride off, one shift off, that could effect the entire tournament.'

The Mustangs are basically going from junior-level hockey at the Canada Games into AA hockey, added Young, so as long as they can keep the tempo up and maintain that level, they should have the upperhand on their competition.

'We should be the ones setting the tone and the speed.'